| Library / English Dictionary |
THE THREE ESTATES
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A major social class or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic of the country (especially in the United Kingdom) and formerly possessing distinct political rights
Synonyms:
estate; estate of the realm; the three estates
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("the three estates" is a kind of...):
class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)
Domain region:
Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)
France; French Republic (a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "the three estates"):
first estate; Lords Spiritual (the clergy in France and the heads of the church in Britain)
Lords Temporal; second estate (the nobility in France and the peerage in Britain)
Commons; third estate (the common people)
fourth estate (the press, including journalists, newspaper writers, photographers)
Holonyms ("the three estates" is a part of...):
body politic; commonwealth; country; land; nation; res publica; state (a politically organized body of people under a single government)
